Matthew's Puzzle and a mom putting it all together

GFCF Sausage Potato and Cabbage Soup

February 27, 2009 By Maryann

My father loves this soup! As he has gotten older he has gone from a man that rarely, if ever, ate a bowl of soup to a man that actually asks for soup almost every week. He even had a big bowl of this soup on his recent birthday. He likes it that much.

Our family first encountered this soup years ago while watching PBS. They had a show with Jacques Pepin, the well-known French Chef. This was one of his quick and easy, yet very tasty soups. I’ve made one very minor change to the original recipe and I think you all may really enjoy it. It is a great example of eating naturally GFCF foods, instead of taking gluten and casein laden foods and trying to “fake” them. I’m just not a fan of doing that. They rarely taste as good as you had hoped. But taking a recipe that does not rely heavily on gluten or casein and making it GFCF is easy. Or even better, find a recipe like this one that really doesn’t need to be modified at all.

Ingredients

1 pound hot Italian sausage, uncased and broken up – (This is where I made a change, I used an organic GFCF sweet Italian chicken sausage)
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
6 chopped scallions – (I also dropped this from my soup because I didn’t have it in the house and the soup is great without it)
6 cups water
1 to 2 pounds potatoes, diced
4 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
1 teaspoon salt
1 minced garlic clove

Directions

Brown sausage well in bottom of soup pot.
Add onions, scallions and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Stir in water, potatoes, cabbage and salt.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

I hope your family enjoys this soup as much as my family does, and that it will inspire you to make more GFCF recipes on your own.

Happy Birthday Matthew!

February 24, 2009 By Maryann

Today is Matthew’s 4th birthday. I just wanted to say how blessed we are to have you in our lives.

love,
Mommy and Daddy

Birthday Revisited

February 23, 2009 By Maryann

We had Matthew’s fourth birthday celebration yesterday. This was the more “public” celebration with friends from school and the neighborhood. We were not terribly prepared for the birthday bash. We had not planned much and just decided to have a part at our house with some light food, cake and one planned activity. As the day approached we realized we had not thought our plan through and we were a bit panicked thinking we did not have enough food or activities for the children. They would be bored and hungry!

But thank goodness we were wrong! The guests started to arrive and Matthew and his friends did what all children do. They played! It was marvelous to watch. My oldest boy talking to his guests, even taking one neighbor girl by the hand and directing her to the family room to play with him. He asked a friend’s son to make “cupcakes” with him in the play kitchen. And even Nico got into the act playing with the other children and just being generally cute. He is pretty good at the latter. After they ate and played some more we broke out the cake. What a hit! I made a wonderful GFCF chocolate cake with vanilla icing. I even located a local baker, Camden Cakes, who produced some GFCF Egg-free chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing for one little boy who also has an egg allergy. The child was so thrilled that he could attend a party and eat something the host had provided. I’m sending the rest of the cupcakes in to Matthew’s class for his actual birthday party at school!

As the party began to wind down we broke out some “stuffable” stuffed animals and had the children add the filling to cute little penguins. Once the stuffing was done, we gave them pennies to wish on and put inside their penguins. These became their take home treats. After the activity the families began to gather up their things and head home. Matthew was so disappointed his friends were leaving, but he had had a very busy day.

One of the best things that happened was one of the moms told me she had no idea that Matthew had an IEP. She couldn’t believe there was any reason for him to have one. When I explained that he is on the Autism Spectrum she was completely astonished. We started talking about all the interventions we use for Matthew and how he has improved so much over the last few months and years. I mentioned Jenny McCarthy and the other mom jumped in and told me that she really admired what we have done for Matthew, and that I was a Warrior Mom just like Jenny.

This birthday naturally had me reflecting back on last years celebration. To compare the two is like comparing night and day. They are both part of the same whole but they are nothing alike. Last year I cried on Matthew’s birthday. I cried for how different my son was from the other children in his class. I cried because his eyes were vacant most of the time. I cried because he just didn’t care. About anything. I cried in fear of his future. And I cried for the child that could have been.

But this year there have been no tears. This year my son was just like every other child I saw. He initiated interaction with other kids. He told me and my husband to go away because he wanted to talk to the neighbor girl by himself. He tried to stuff the penguin and laughed and played with the children. He was so present and so involved with the other children it warmed my heart. Last year he stood alone and didn’t care who else was around. This year he was sorry to see his friends leave.

What a difference a year, and some well thought out and executed interventions, can make! Much love to my two little boys who make this world worth living in.

Raw Dairy…Real or a Raw Deal?

February 17, 2009 By Maryann

Today there was an article in the Baltimore Sun about legislature looking to allow Maryland Dairy Farmers to sell Raw, Fresh, or Real Milk and Milk Products to Marylanders. I’m personally quite excited by this prospect. Recently we have decided to try Raw milk ourselves. Just like the article says, I’m picking up milk at a local drop spot. It feels very clandestine and I keep joking with my husband that we are going to be busted in the Great Raw Milk Controversy. But I guess if Michael Phelps can get off so can we, right?

So why am I taking chances and buying raw milk? I first heard about raw milk while attending the DAN! conference in San Diego this past October. Julie Matthews, a nutritionist that works with DAN! families, mentioned it in one of her nutritional presentations. At the time I just sort of let the information in one ear and out the other. I figured there was no way we could use any kind of milk, raw or pasteurized, with Matthew because he reacted so drastically to casein in his diet. He stimmed horribly on milk. We certainly weren’t going to chance that again. A few months later I started going to a local biomedical support group and I met a woman who was talking about the wonders of raw milk. She was using it with her children, specifically her son who used to stim horribly on pasteurized milk. Sounded familiar. Still I put it off. It seemed like too much trouble and I really didn’t think it would work for Matthew. I mean he really did seem to have such issues with milk.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I decided to try ordering some milk, yogurt, ice cream (chocolate) and some kombucha. You know I had to try the kombucha! Anyway, we picked up the milk and I was very eager to taste it. It tasted great. Pretty much like just really fresh milk. So far so good. So this week we decided to try a milk challenge with Matthew. Of course the little stinker doesn’t actually want to drink the milk because he has been so programmed into thinking that all cows milk will make him sick. My poor baby. So I decided to try the cheese first. He had a grilled cheese sandwich today. So far, so good.

Why do people think raw dairy may be OK for kids on a GFCF diet? I’m going to Quote Julie Matthew’s from her book Cooking to Heal, Support for Nourishing Hope page 76 “A1 and A2 Dairy- We often think of casein – all casein – as the enemy with milk. There are actually many forms of casein including alpha, beta and kappa casein. Scientists and farmers in New Zealand have been studying the effects of two types of beta casein – A1 vs. A2 beta-casein – and have found that A1 beta-casein is the protein in most (Holstein) dairy cows. Goat, sheep and buffalo, as well as certain dairy cows (Jersey and Guernsey) produce primarily A2 beta casein.

“The variance between A1 and A2 beta casein is a different amino acid at position 67 – Histidine for A1 milk vs Proline for A2. This small change causes A1 milk to be broken down during digestion into an opiate compound, BMC-7 (beta casomorhin 7); whereas, A2 does not.

“There are a few studies suggesting that the A1 beta-casein molecule and the resulting BMC-7 opiate may be responsible for many, if not all problems, with the casein in milk – increased risk of heart disease, type 1 diabetes, autism, and schizophrenia.

“One of the reasons raw milk may not cause negative casein reactions may be because raw milk dairy farms often have higher numbers of cows such as Guernsey and Jersey cows that produce much lower levels of A1 milk. It is also postulated that pasteurization or processing (cheese making) may also have an effect on the level of opiates in the milk.

“Goat, sheep, buffalo produce primarily A2 milk. Some people may choose to try different types of milk and see if any work better for them.”

So there you have it. We decided to try it and see. If Matthew can handle the raw milk we may actually be able to allow him to live a more normal and enjoyable life. In addition raw milk is said to have many wonderful properties. For more information on the healthful properties of raw milk check out the Weston A. Price Foundation.